Solotude by Eyran Katsenelenbogen

Definitive solo piano renditions of the songs you love, such as The Christmas Song, Take Five, Monk (original title theme of the TV series ‘Monk’) and many, many more.

“Art Tatum’s spirit inhabits this phenomenal musician” — Budd Kopman, All About Jazz. “17 standards such as The Christmas Song and Take Five are given wholly non-standard arrangements that cover much of the history of jazz, from stride and swing to bop and Monkish excursions, from breathless Tatumesque technique to Brubeckian time experiments.” — Andrea Canter, Jazz Police. Also, Look for Eyran’s featured track Lakme, by composer Ellie Malick, on JAZZIZ On Disc in November (www.JAZZIZ.com).

This innovative and acclaimed improvisational artist is celebrating the release of his 8th solo piano CD Solotude with concerts in the U.S., Europe and Israel. Past tours include concerts and recordings in Jerusalem, London, Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg, at the Italian National Festival in Rome, Tel-Aviv Jazz Festival, Boston’s Jordan Hall, New York’s 5C Cultural Center and many other venues. Recipient of the ASCAP Plus Award for the years 2002 – 2006, Eyran holds a faculty position at the New England Conservatory School of Continuing Education and Preparatory School, and has pioneered techniques for teaching contemporary music performance to children and adult students with special abilities and diverse needs. His appearances have been enthusiastically received around the world. Cadence magazine has glowingly reviewed his recordings: “…his playing…is at times introspective, at times explosive, but at all times dynamic and challenging….”

BOSTON, MA. – Internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Eyran Katsenelenbogen releases his eight CD, Solotude. A pun on Ellington’s Solitude, The CD’s title combines the words Solo and Etude and reflect the idea of Eyran’s entire career being a life-long extended musical study in playing solo. Eyran’s sound is highly original and remains loyal to the rich tradition of American jazz piano. Solotude features 17 jazz standards with distinctive arrangements that range from romantic-rhapsodic to intellectual-Monk style while encompassing bebop, swing and stride. This solo etudé of 74 minutes was recorded in 6 different sessions between 2002 and 2005. It opens with a short studio version of Harnick’s Do You Love Me from Fiddler On The Roof and closes with a live version of the same song recorded two years earlier at a New England Conservatory faculty concert in Jordan Hall, Boston, MA. Solotude continues Eyran’s musical journey, which started with tonal improvisation (Jazzonettes, Jazzis, 1989), continued with free improvisation (Formation, Eyran Records, 2001), and led to his highly successful traditional jazz solo piano CD It’s Reigning Kats & Dogs & Bogen (Eyran Records, 2003).

The CD is distributed via CD Baby and its digital distribution program which includes iTunes, Rhapsody, BuyMusic, Emusic, Yahoo! Music, the new Napster, AOL's MusicNet, MusicMatch and additional physical and digital outlets.

Testaments on Eyran’s previous works:

Katsenelenbogen recalls Tatum not only stylistically but technically as well. He has the same complete command of the keyboard, unerring sense of rhythm, and improvisational inventiveness the master jazz pianist possessed… These traits… make for as interesting an excursion in the realm of pianism as has been released…

-- Dave Nathan, All Music Guide

One should commend the undeniable qualities of this young composer, who knows how to turn the listener to a loyal companion for a journey on which one meets Bartok, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett and the virtuosity of classical music - Horowitz, Pollini...

-- Jazz Hot Magazine

I consider Eyran Katsenelenbogen to be a pianist of extraordinary ability and a musician of rare quality…

TAKE FIVE / ARMANDO'S RHUMBA Recorded May 12, 2005 at Futura Productions, Roslindale, MA. Recording engineer: John Weston.

LADY BE GOOD / JERSEY BOUNCE / RHYTHM-A-NING / MONK THEME / ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE / THE CHRISTMAS SONG / YOU MUST BELIEVE IN SPRING / BOUNCING WITH BUD Recorded January 6, 2005 at Futura Productions, Roslindale, MA. Recording engineer: John Weston.

BLUE MONK Recorded live February 28, 2004 at the Theodore Parker Unitarian Church, West Roxbury, MA. Recording engineer: Kyle Wesloh.

Recipient of the ASCAP Plus Award for the years 2002 through 2006, jazz pianist Eyran Katsenelenbogen holds a faculty position at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston since 1996. He is named on the Massachusetts Cultural Council Performing and Touring Roster, which is a select list of artists supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA). A classically trained pianist with a unique jazz style, Eyran has performed by invitation in concert and on radio and television around the world, including the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

Eyran's past acclaimed tours of Europe and North America included solo recitals and recordings at the landmark Jordan Hall, Boston; Vestibule Hall, London; L'inoui, Luxembourg; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto; Futura Productions, West Roxbury; Altstadtrathaus Concert Hall in Braunschweig, Germany and the Conservatory of Zurich. His International Solotude CD Release tour included concerts at the Tel-Aviv Jazz&Blues Festival; 5C Cultural Center in New York; a faculty concert at New England Conservatory in Boston; concerts by invitation of Concerti del Tempietto at the Marcellus Theatre and Casina delle Civette in Rome; and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and the Brigham Young University Center for Near Eastern Studies in Israel. Past radio and TV appearances include WGBH, WERS, WHRB, Israeli Broadcasting Service (IBS) and Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (Belgium).

In addition to his piano virtuosity, Eyran has pioneered techniques for teaching contemporary music performance to students with diverse needs. His innovative work at NEC with his student Matthew Savage have been featured on ABC's 20/20, Good Morning America and The Discovery Channel, and in printed media such as The Boston Globe, Wired Magazine and People Magazine. Eyran’s CD with Matthew Savage, One is Not Fun, But 20 is Plenty, was endorsed by the American Autism Research Institute. Eyran continuously records and performs with his students. He has produced concerts for vocalist Patrice Monahan, performed with Hildy Grossman's Follen Angles, and produced and recorded a CD titled Just For Fun with pianist / composer Ellie Malick.

Eyran has enjoyed a world-class education in piano performance. First taught by Aida Barenboim, mother and teacher of famed pianist/conductor Daniel Barenboim, Eyran went on to complete his music education at the New England Conservatory, where he studied under renowned artists such as pianists Ran Blake, Paul Bley and Fred Hersch. Eyran also worked with Danilo Perez, George Russell, and Jimmy Heath. Under the direction of the virtuoso composer Gunther Schuller, Eyran delivered a performance that was declared "exemplary" by The Boston Globe. Eyran graduated with BB.M from the NEC in 1997 with Academic Distinction, Excellence in Performance, Pi Kappa Lambda (music honor society) and four consecutive National Dean's List awards.

Note: On tracks recorded at Futura Productions, such as The Christmas Song, Take Five and Monk, Eyran is performing on a 9’ Steinway CD327 concert grand piano with “Hamburg” action.